Friday, April 15, 2016

Claritin allows you to get back to your daily activities which may include kicking a soccer ball into a shopping cart or going to the opera!

The latest commercial for allergy medication product Claritin features the overture from Bizet's Carmen. The tune is from the aria "Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre," more commonly known as Escamillo's "Toreador Song." Watch the commercial, and a video of James Levine conducting the overture, after the jump.

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Paul Robeson was one of the first African-American entertainers to live in the apartment building on Edgecombe Avenue.

If you're hunting for a new spacious apartment in New York City, look no further than the National Historic Landmark building at 555 Edgecombe Avenue in Washington Heights. Former tenants include some of music's most famous African-American performers like Paul Robeson (for whom the building is now named) and Count Basie. The "ginormous" apartment has two bedrooms in addition to a full-size dining room measuring 13.5' by 10.5'! Apartment #6 is listed for $2,600. Call your broker and check out the listing here. "The Paul Robeson Residence, also known by its street address of 555 Edgecombe Avenue, is a National Historic Landmarked apartment building, located at 555 Edgecombe Avenue at the corner of West 160th Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was originally known as the Roger Morris when it was built in 1914-16 – after the retired British Army officer who built the nearby Morris-Jumel Mansion – and was designed by Schwartz & Gross, who specialized in apartment buildings. For the first 25 years of its existence, the building was restricted to white

Count Basie was another star in the
Washington Heights building.

tenants. Around 1940, as the racial characteristics of the neighborhood changed, this policy was dropped. Subsequently, the building became known for the noted African-American residents, including musician and composer Count Basie, boxer Joe Louis, musician and bandleader Andy Kirk, actor and producer Canada Lee, the psychologist Kenneth Clark, and the actor and singer Paul Robeson, who lived in the building from 1939 to 1941. After Robeson's death in 1976, the building was declared a National Historic Landmark in his honor. In 1993, it was designated a New York City landmark. Edgecombe Avenue has also been co-named Paul Robeson Boulevard." [Source] See photos rooms in the apartment up for rent, after the jump.